A few decades ago, Jim Morrison – late lead singer of the Doors and a man one can almost guarantee knew nothing about hockey – once rambled “The west is the best … the west is the best” with what was probably a daunting amount of unmentionable substances coursing through his body.

It’s hard to argue with the leader of that classic psychedelic rock band, whether it comes to general shifts in U.S. population or the disparity between the Western and Eastern conferences in the NHL.

The West’s stark superiority over the East has been a trend that held strong for the past six seasons according to John Kreiser of NHL.com. Kreiser writes that West teams hold a 57-31-12 record during inter-conference games this season, earning a 57 percent winning rate against East teams. He points out that that the West generated a winning record against the East in every season since the first post-lockout campaign.

So, the big picture numbers definitely solidify the widely held (especially in the West) feeling that there is a clear difference between the two conferences. Kreiser points out that three Western teams really drive the point home, though.

Much of the damage by the West has been done by three teams. St. Louis won its first seven games against the East before losing to Washington on Wednesday; still, the Blues’ 7-1-0 mark is the best by any team against the other conference. Dallas is 8-2-0 against the East after beating the Caps on Thursday, the most wins by any team against the other conference, and Los Angeles, which went a League-best 14-4-0 against the East last season, is 7-3-0 this season after beating Florida on Thursday.

Interestingly enough, Kreiser points out that the only West team without a win against the East is the elite team in the conference: the Detroit Red Wings. In fact, they’re the only team that doesn’t own a win against the other conference, period. Of course, they only played one game against an East team so far (a 5-1 loss to Atlanta), which indicates that the pro-West numbers will become even more profound as the season goes on.